A resort in the Bahamas asks guests to leave their luggage behind, Philippe Starck goes to space, and the Pritzker jury announces its 2020 honorees. All this and more in this week’s Five.
Deadline extended for the 16th annual HD Awards
Some more good news to share for those form our neck of the woods. We’ve extended our deadline for the 16th annual HD Awards one week to Friday, March 13th. The HD/West Elm Student Product Design Competition has been extended to April 3rd. Winners and finalists, chosen by a jury of industry professionals (meet them here!) will be featured in our June issue and be honored at an event in New York on June 3rd, 2020 at Cipriani 25 Broadway. Click here to submit today!
Reserve your stay at the space modules designed by Starck
NASA and space exploration company Axiom are planning to launch a space tourism program in 2024, which allows visitors to stay at the International Space Station (ISS). Designed by Philippe Starck, the interiors of the cluster of padded modules attached to the station itself will be like “a comfortable egg,” Starck told Architectural Digest. In addition to soft walls, touch-screens, storage nets and bright handles to overcome the challenges of the zero-gravity environment, windows will take in views of Earth. The state-of-the-art modules will host astronauts from countries that are not currently members of ISS as well as citizens who can afford the $35,000 price tag. Even then, they will need to pass an intense 15-week physical training at Axiom’s Houston facility before taking the 10-day flight led by a trained astronaut.
No luggage required at this Bahamas resort
At the Ocean Club, a Four Seasons Resort, in the Bahamas, all you need is a reservation and your passport. That’s thanks to the resort’s newly launched No Luggage Required program. The hotel reaches out to guests in advance of their stay to understand style preferences and body measurements, with packages ranging from $7,500 to $50,000. From there, stylists from onsite boutique Carlo Milano will dress guests head to toe in everything from Versace to Tom Ford and Saint Laurent. Writes Robb Report: “Not long ago, arriving with trolleys full of luggage was a jet-set status symbol, while no bags meant an unfortunate airline snafu. Now, stacks of suitcases seem like an unnecessary and inelegant hassle. Showing up empty-handed is the real travel power move.”
The 2020 Pritzker Prize honorees have been announced
Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, founders of Dublin firm Grafton Architects, have been named the 2020 recipients of the Pritzker Prize, architecture’s highest honor. They’re only the fourth and fifth women to claim the prize in its 41-year history, writes CNN. Known for their powerful yet thoughtful approach to architecture, the duo’s prolific portfolio includes various civic and cultural institutions, as well housing and academic developments of which they’re known, including University Campus UTEC, Lima, Peru, which won the RIBA International Prize in 2016. “Without grand or frivolous gestures, they have managed to create buildings that are monumental institutional presences when appropriate,” read the jury’s citation, “but even so they are zoned and detailed in such a way as to produce more intimate spaces that create community within.”
Neri Oxman’s blend of nature and science comes to MoMA
Architect and MIT professor Neri Oxman’s newest exhibition Material Ecology, has debuted at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Showcasing seven major projects over the course of her career, the show will be on view through May 25th with works that combine science and digital fabrication technologies, integrating advanced 3D printing methods and highlighting Oxman’s inventive way of thinking about materials, objects, buildings, and construction processes. “From tree bark and crustacean shells to silkworms and human breath, nature has influenced Oxman’s design and production processes, just as it has influenced architects across centuries,” writes MoMa about the exhibition.
